Forbes' list includes a total of 2,781 individuals, 141 more than last year and 26 more than the publication's previous record in 2021.
According to Forbes, the billionaires on the list are "richer than ever," worth a total of $14.2 trillion in aggregate, which is up $2 trillion from 2023 and $1.1 trillion above the previous record set in 2021.
The United States had the most billionaires on the list, with 813 worth a total of $5.7 trillion, while China had the second most with 473, worth a total of $1.7 trillion.
Overall rankings
Overall, the five wealthiest billionaires on Forbes' list are:
1. Bernard Arnault, who oversees the LVMH conglomerate of 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora, worth $233 billion
2. Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX, worth $195 billion
3. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, worth $194 billion
4. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, worth $177 billion
5. Larry Ellison, chair, chief technology officer, and co-founder of Oracle, worth $141 billion
Billionaires in the healthcare industry
Forbes divided its list of billionaires into several categories. The billionaires from the United States on the healthcare list include:
73. Thomas Frist Jr., founder of Hospital Corp. of America, worth $26.2 billion
203. Carl Cook, CEO of Cook Group, worth $10.6 billion
312. Ronda Stryker, director of Stryker Corp., worth $8.2 billion
334. John Brown, former chair of Stryker Corp., worth $7.7 billion
364. Reinhold Schmieding, founder of Arthrex, worth $7.3 billion
469. Patrick Soon-Shiong, inventor of the cancer drug Abraxane, worth $6.2 billion
529. Li Ge, chair and CEO of Wuxi Apptec, worth $5.6 billion
563. Jon Stryker, grandson of Stryker Corp. founder Homer Stryker, worth $5.4 billion
809. (tie) Robert Duggan, entrepreneur who led the sale of biotech firm Pharmacyclics to AbbVie in 2015, worth $3.9 billion
809. (tie) Pat Stryker, philanthropist and founder of Bohemian Foundation, worth $3.9 billion
920. Leonard Schleifer, co-founder and CEO of Regeneron, worth $3.5 billion
949. Stewart Rahr, who expanded Kinray and sold it to Cardinal Health in 2010, worth $3.4 billion
991. August Troendle, CEO of Medpace, worth $3.3 billion
1062. Wayne Rothbaum, founder of Quogue Capital, worth $3.1 billion
1330. Alice Schwartz, co-founder of Bio-Rad Laboratories, worth $2.5 billion
1545. George Yancopoulos, chief scientific officer of Regeneron, worth $2.1 billion
1623. Amy Wyss, daughter of Hansjoerg Wyss who founded Synthes, worth $2 billion
1694. (tie) John Abele, co-founder of Boston Scientific, worth $1.9 billion
1694. (tie) Keith Dunleavy, founder of Inovalon, worth $1.9 billion
1694. (tie) James Leininger, founder of Kinetic Concepts, worth $1.9 billion
1764. (tie) Phillip Frost, who runs Opko Health, worth $1.8 billion
1764. (tie) Gary Michelson, retired orthopedic and spinal surgeon who holds around 340 U.S. patents for orthopedic and spinal surgery instruments, worth $1.8 billion
1851. Alan Miller, founder of Universal Health Services, worth $1.7 billion
1945. Hao Hong, chair of Asymchem Laboratories, worth $1.6 billion
2046. (tie) Randal J. Kirk, chair of Third Security, LLC., worth $1.5 billion
2046. (tie) Timothy Springer, immunologist and professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Harvard Medical School
2046. (tie) Jeff Tangney, co-founder of Doximity, worth $1.5 billion
2152. (tie) Noubar Afeyan, founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, worth $1.4 billion
2152. (tie) David Paul, founder and CEO of Globus Medical, worth $1.4 billion
2410. Robert Langer, scientist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, worth $1.2 billion
2545. (tie) Joe Kiani, founder of Masimo Corp., worth $1.1 billion
2545. (tie) Forrest Preston, founder of Life Care Centers of America, worth $1.1 billion
2692. (tie) John Oyler, CEO and co-founder of BeiGene, worth $1 billion
2692. (tie) Roy Vagelos, who served as chair and CEO of Merck & Co. from 1984 to 1994, worth $1 billion
(Forbes 2024 "World's Billionaires List," accessed 4/3)
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